Food shipped to Malaysian state

Food shipped to Malaysian state

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Emergency food aid has been sent to more than 500 hungry families in the drought-stricken Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, The Star newspaper reported yesterday.

It said a charitable organization, Yayasan Salam, had sent rice and other supplies to 514 farming families in the remote area of Ulu Bengkoka in northern Sabah on Saturday in a convoy of 10 four-wheel drive vehicles.

The food, sent to six remote villages, was expected to be distributed yesterday morning. The group hopes to aid 6,336 families in the state, where food supplies are at critically low levels due to a severe drought.

The newspaper said that while the exact number of drought victims in the state was not known, there were estimates that more than 10,000 families in the northern, interior and west coast areas of Sabah have been affected.